Open the kitchen drawer and it's the same story in most UK homes: three or four small Kitchen Devils knives, all roughly the same size, all a bit dull looking from the outside, and no obvious way to tell which one you actually reached for last time you made a sandwich. Paring knife, peeler/paring knife, vegetable knife, utility knife, tomato knife, multi purpose knife. On paper that's six different products. In the drawer it can feel like one confusing pile of near identical blades.
This guide sorts it out. We'll go through each of the smaller everyday Kitchen Devils knives, what each one is actually built for, and which combination makes sense for the way you cook.
Paring knife vs peeler/paring knife: the detail workers
Start with the two smallest blades in the range, because they're the ones people mix up most. A Kitchen Devils paring knife is a short, pointed blade for close, precise work: taking the eyes out of a potato, hulling a strawberry, trimming a pepper stem, or deveining a prawn. It's the knife you pick up when a full size cook's knife would feel clumsy in your hand, and it quietly ends up being one of the most used knives in the kitchen.
Then there's the Kitchen Devils peeler/paring knife, which does everything the paring knife does but adds a detachable peeler attachment that clips onto the handle. It's a genuinely clever two in one design for smaller kitchens, or anyone who would rather not have a separate peeler rattling around in the drawer. Peel a bag of carrots or potatoes, then unclip the peeler and use the same handle for the fiddly detail work. If you're stocking a kitchen from scratch, this is the one to reach for. If you already own a peeler and just want a dedicated small blade, the plain paring knife does the job without the extra attachment.
Vegetable knife: the everyday salad and veg blade
This is the knife that gets the most daily use in most kitchens, which is exactly why Kitchen Devils makes it in two ranges. The Kitchen Devils vegetable knife, 10 year guarantee, comes from the Lifestyle range and is built to be the knife you keep in a drawer or a countertop pot for whatever needs doing right now, from slicing cucumber for a salad to topping and tailing green beans. Its fine serrated edge bites into the skin of tomatoes and peppers without the blade skidding, which matters more than people expect once they've tried a plain edge on a ripe tomato and watched it slip.
The Kitchen Devils vegetable knife, 15 year guarantee, is the same idea from the Control range, with the longer guarantee that range carries. Both do the same daily job of fruit, salad and vegetable prep. The difference is really about which range you're building your knife collection around rather than the blade itself, so if you already have other Lifestyle or Control pieces, matching the vegetable knife to them is a sensible way to choose between the two.
Utility knife and multi purpose knife: the genuine all rounders
If you only ever want to own one small knife, this is the section for you. The Kitchen Devils utility knife is a step up in size from the multi purpose knife, giving a bit more blade for jobs that sit between paring work and full sized chopping, things like slicing a block of cheese, cutting sandwiches in half, or breaking down a small joint of meat. It's built to be the knife you don't have to think about, because it copes with whatever gets put in front of it.
The multi purpose knife is the most recognisable Kitchen Devils shape of all, the small serrated blade that ends up in nearly every UK kitchen drawer. It comes in two guarantee tiers: the Kitchen Devils multi purpose knife, 10 year guarantee, from the Lifestyle range, and the Kitchen Devils multi purpose knife, 15 year guarantee, from the Control range. Both share that fine serrated edge that makes light work of sandwiches, fruit and everyday veg prep. For a longer blade with the same all purpose spirit, there's also the Kitchen Devils new all purpose knife, which combines a scalloped edge with a serrated tip so it stretches to slicing bread too.
Tomato knife: built for thick skinned fruit and veg
Anyone who has tried to slice a tomato for a sandwich with a plain edged knife knows the problem: the blade sits on the skin rather than cutting into it, and either the tomato squashes or the knife slips. The Kitchen Devils tomato knife solves this with wide scalloped serrations along the blade, deeper and more pronounced than the fine serration on the vegetable or multi purpose knives. Those wide scallops grip the skin the moment the blade touches it, for a clean first cut rather than a squashed one. It's not just for tomatoes either. Citrus fruit, peppers and other thick or waxy skinned produce benefit from the same wide serrated edge, which is why this knife earns its place even in a drawer that already has a vegetable knife in it.
The Asian style small cook's knife: for faster chopping and slicing
Slightly different from the rest of the lineup, the Kitchen Devils Control small Asian cook's knife has a Santoku style blade profile, flatter along the cutting edge than a traditional paring or vegetable knife. That flatter profile suits a rock free chopping motion, useful if you're working through a pile of veg for a stir fry or slicing a cucumber in one smooth stroke rather than several small cuts. It's a smaller version of the full sized Santoku shape, still comfortable for close prep work like peeling shallots, while giving you more chopping ability than a straight paring blade. If your everyday prep leans more towards chopping than fine detail work, this is worth adding alongside your paring and vegetable knives.
Want them all in one go? The Control Starter Set
If reading all of the above has confirmed that you'd rather just have a solid small knife set and stop thinking about it, the Kitchen Devils Control Starter Set packs three of the most used knives in any kitchen into one box: a paring knife, a multi purpose knife and a vegetable knife, all from the Control range. It's a sensible way to cover paring, everyday veg prep and general purpose cutting in a single purchase, particularly for a first flat, a student kitchen, or simply replacing a mismatched drawer of knives that have seen better days. You can browse the full range, including the larger cook's knives and bread knife, in the Kitchen Devils collection.
Frequently asked questions
What's actually the difference between a paring knife and a vegetable knife?
Size and blade shape rather than what they can technically cut. The paring knife is shorter with a pointed tip, built for close detail work like trimming, hulling and peeling by hand. The vegetable knife has a bit more blade length and a fine serrated edge, better suited to slicing through a run of tomatoes, cucumber or peppers on a board. Most kitchens end up using both, often within the same meal.
Do I need a tomato knife if I already have a vegetable knife?
Not strictly, but it makes a noticeable difference if you regularly prep tomatoes, peppers or other thick skinned produce. The tomato knife's wide scallops are more aggressive than the fine serration on a vegetable knife, so the first cut into the skin is cleaner and there's less squashing. If tomatoes and salad are a daily thing in your kitchen, it's a small addition that earns its keep.
Is the Santoku style knife better than a straight vegetable knife for chopping salad?
It depends on your chopping style rather than one being better outright. The flatter blade profile on the Asian style small cook's knife suits a rocking, continuous chopping motion, which some people find quicker for a big pile of salad veg. A straight edged vegetable knife or multi purpose knife works just as well with a more traditional slicing motion. Try both if you're unsure, they solve the same problem in slightly different ways.
Kitchen Devils has been a familiar name in British kitchen drawers for decades, and the brand is currently owned and sold by Fiskars. Whichever of these smaller knives you end up choosing, the aim is the same: a blade that suits the actual prep you do most, whether that's peeling a bag of potatoes on a Sunday, slicing tomatoes for a quick lunch, or chopping a salad after work. Pick the one that matches how you really cook, not just what happened to be in the drawer already.
